Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides.
Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on
the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You will need to join the MOA before you can post: click this register link to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

08 r1200rt - stalling issue

It has only started happening over the past 5 or so days, by the RT is starting to idle extremely roughly and had stalled a couple of times while waiting in traffic. Seems to be worse after it at running temperature. I ran some Techron through it the week previous. Apart from that, I'm at a loss as to why it behaving so badly. Any ideas?

The symptoms you're experiencing are consistent with a failing Fuel Pressure Controller (FPC). I think you can search this forum for more info, but unfortunately you will have to either bypass it temporarily or replace it. It could die completely at any time potentially leaving you stranded somewhere. (I assume there are no yellow or red warnings on the dash when it quits).

Or, it could be something else entirely, like a battery cable loosening up or an ignition system problem. My first guess would be the FPC.

This may not be the same thing, but I had an issue with my 05 RT idling a little rough and it appeared out of the blue. It even cut out twice while coasting in traffic as I blipped the throttle. On the advice of another I did the following: turn bike ignition on but don't start the bike, roll the throttle from fully closed to wide open then back to closed again slowly - do this 3 times. Then start the bike. No problems since (4-5k miles).

A third possibility is that you have a vacuum leak -- it's not unheard of for one of the fuel vapor recovery purge hoses to come off their throttle body nipple, leaving the nipple as a wide-open air intake path on one side of the motor.

Thanks for the feedback. Right - no warning lights at all. But it has been idling rough which makes me think the vacuum line could be the prime culprit.
I'll check all the above and report back when I have some findings. Geez I hope its not the FPC - that sounds expensive.

And it also could b a sticking idle stepper which produces exactly the described symptoms
If its the fpc. you'll get stuck eventually because the bike will fail to run at some point- they only get worse once they start to go.
The other items listed will just continue to be an annoying and modest hazard..
Hexheads and camheads don't benefit much from computer relearn attempts- they're fundamentally different than oldr Motronics units..

Emptied the tank after it first started happening. Bad fuel was my first thought as well.
I checked out the FPC. The compartment was well sealed, although it looks as though I have the original/nonpowder coated controller.
I decided to take the left hand lower plastic off, because I could, and one thing that did catch my attention was the oil build up and gunge around what appears to be the lowerside exit from the airbox to the throttle bodies (photo attached).
Everything looked clean apart from this. Is this normal?

Not exactly "normal" - but it does happen if the oil is badly overfilled (by 1/2 quart or so..)

The puzzling thing is how the oil is escaping from the airbox (the crankcase is vented into the bottom front corner of the airbox.. excess fumes will condense as an oil puddle in the bottom of the airbox, DAMHIK..) I had a similar (not as bad) leak on the other side of the airbox, that dribbled down on the transmission, ran back to the near the swingarm pivot and accumulated on the accordion boot on the front of the swingarm.

Going in with rags and paper-towels attached to a claw thingie (flexible pickup tool) and mopping up the oil puddle from inside the airbox cured the "leak". I went in through the air-filter opening after removing the filter.

You may also want to make certain the crankcase vent hose (left side of your photo) is attached correctly to the airbox, and isn't cracked.